The Take Off And Landing Of Everything

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Six albums into a storied career, Elbow has won a Mercury Prize, sold out arenas, and become one of the UK's biggest groups with an elegiac brand of atmospheric rock, influenced in equal parts by prog-rock and pub-wisdom. On <i>The Take Off and Landing of Everything</i>, they confront every rock band's biggest challenge: getting older. "Mother forgive me, I still want a bottle of good Irish whiskey / and a bundle of smokes in my grave," sings Guy Garvey, who turned 40 just days before the album's release, confronting middle age with characteristic panache. Mellifluous and restrained, <i>Take Off</i> doesn't attempt to recreate the grandeur of the Mercury Prize-winning <i>The Seldom Seen Kid</i>, opting instead for songs like "New York Morning," a somber tune with drums and keys that gradually build from a quiet early dawn to a majestic thrum. "Honey Sun" is a smoldering mid-tempo track, featuring harmonies as warm as a cup of tea, while "My Sad Captains" wistfully celebrates Garvey’s hard-partying buddies: "Another sunrise with my sad captains / with whom I choose to lose my mind."

via Apple Music